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“I’ll see you, Mommy.” He waves as Croy turns and takes my son to school.
As soon as they’re out of earshot, Hawk speaks up. “You have a son? How is that possible? How old is he?”
I can feel my jaw tighten as he continues to fire questions at me. “You need to stop.”
“Is Croy his father?”
“I don’t have time for this.” I turn to head back into the house to grab the stuff.
“You need to answer my questions, Tessa,” he growls from behind me.
I spin around. “I don’t need to do anything, Hawking. Nothing but take care of my son.”
I storm over to the couch where I keep my purse and snatch it up. Maintaining the same momentum, I storm out of my apartment, jamming the key into the lock, locking the door, and shouldering past Hawk.
“Tessa,” he calls after me, but I don’t stop. “This isn’t over, Tessa Reese.” His voice gets louder, but I keep on going.
He’s right, it’s not over. I just hope he doesn’t look at me any differently when he finally gets his answers.
Tessa
There’s no way I’m going home tonight. The thought of me having to explain things to Hawk is the last thing that I want to do. That’s why we’re hanging out with Martha.
“Hiding isn’t the answer, baby.” Martha takes a sip of her tea.
My eyes go past Martha to see Sam playing trucks with one of her grandsons. “I’m not hiding. Sam wanted to play.”
“Hmm. Is that the story? I thought you told him that we were off tonight?” She’s not going to let this go.
“Mom.” Sam and Alex run up. “When is that Hawk guy coming over again?”
“He’s got a cool name,” Alex says.
“Yeah, it’s super cool. I wish my name were something cool like that.”
“Your name is cool, Samuel Joseph Reese.”
Sam giggles. “Not really, Mom.”
“Let’s go watch cartoons.” Alex bounces with too much energy, and they both take off towards the living room.
“It seems like Sam likes him.”
“Sam likes anyone who’s a male. He’s missing the father figure in his life.”
“I thought that’s what Croy was there for?”
I shrug. “You can’t force that kind of stuff, you know? Croy’s great. He’s always been great, and I really don’t know why he continues to be an influence in Sam’s life, but Sam doesn’t have that connection with him. I’ve never seen it before.”
“Maybe Hawking is the answer to your problems.”
I shake my head. “Are you kidding me? Hawking is the beginning of my problems.”
Martha purses her lips. “I’ve been around a long time, Tessa, and this old biddy knows things. I think Hawking is worth the chance you’re so afraid to take.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Maybe, but do you know what is possible? You telling that boy what happened to you and letting him make the decision.” She sits back and brings the mug to her mouth.
